


Fight For Me

by boys_in (kaleidosphere)



Series: Lysinette Week 2020 [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study, F/F, Feelings Realization, Introspection, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23275258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaleidosphere/pseuds/boys_in
Summary: "Fight for me," Annette insists, pulling Lysithea in closer.Forget the world, and just focus on me,she wants to say.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Lysithea von Ordelia
Series: Lysinette Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667251
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Fight For Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 5 of [Lysinette Week!](https://twitter.com/lysinetteweek/status/1217928065944367106) Prompt: Inspiration  
> I appreciate you reading this work, and any feedback/engagement you give! Thank you and enjoy!

"Why are you fighting?" is a question that Annette doesn't know how to answer. Of course, her mind supplies all the usual replies: for the Kingdom, for her family, for the future of Fódlan. She fights so that Dimitri can win, rule as king, and put a stop to Edelgard's dominion. She fights because now that the world has ended, there is nothing else left to do.

But she still finds those explanations inadequate. She will never say as much, her smile as bright and necessary as the sun itself, to the point where showing weakness in front of the others would hinder much more than it would help. Even if everything inside her is boiling hot with uncertainty and pressure, she keeps her face cool and clean. She fights battles outside of her body, and keeps the inner ones at bay. She knows what she is doing.

Though, if she starts being honest with herself, she will find that her reasons for fighting are so few and far between. Of course she cherishes her friends, as weary and exhausted as they all are. Of course she cares about her father, as self-pitying and stubborn as he is. Of course they are the good in this world, the reasons why wars are fought, so those precious to you can be protected. Of course, of course, of course.

Yet if Annette pares everything down to their bare bones, she finds that there is no real reason to continue on as she does. At any point in the war, she can disappear or give up, and no one else would be the wiser.

It stings.

/

/

"Why are you fighting?" is a question that Lysithea is always prepared to answer. There are the typical answers, of course: Edelgard must be stopped, House Ordelia cannot survive if we lose the war, the country cannot be united under bloodshed and violence. She fights so that she can prove to Claude that her decision to abandon him was not done in vain—that by focusing on the Kingdom's efforts in place of the Alliance's, she is saving them both.

And she believes those explanations are enough. She hardly shows it, but her will to fight wavers by the day, and while others may see her as some unfazed genius, Lysithea has her own battles to contend. The ones inside are stronger than those around her, because any soldier can be fell with a good magic spell or two. But the enemies in her head, heart, and soul are more difficult to take down. Even if her core goes cold and numb at the thought of death hanging over her, she keeps her expression controlled but _alive._ She has no idea what she is doing, but she will try her best to convince everyone otherwise.

Honesty is so hard with Lysithea, because there are so many unfortunate truths she would rather not face. Yet they are an integral part of her, and no matter how many times she denies it, she cannot escape inevitability. This started as a political decision made in a tumultuous time, but as the months drag on, she finds herself genuinely worried with the allies she has around her, and notices her heart beating in tandem with theirs. These are no longer partners or soldiers in a war, but friends and comrades who support her as she supports them. It's so simple, to the point where she is almost mad at herself for thinking differently.

Yet as Lysithea overcomplicates this matter (as she tends to overcomplicate most things), she will come to understand that there are a million reasons for her to fight in this war. As insignificant as she may be, her disappearance is a tiny domino that can bring the whole operation down. They need every able body they can get.

It weighs heavily on her—a crown.

/

/

Annette likes wind magic. She likes it because it incapacitates, or blows enemies away until they die from something lesser, like a head colliding with a rock. She doesn't have to see their bodies maimed, burned, electrified, or tortured. The million little cuts from the wind are just that, _little,_ and they are dead long before their bodies can begin to bleed.

Lysithea likes dark magic. She likes it because it is the only magic her body is truly capable of producing, a result of those disgusting experiments done on her years and years ago. Her magic is a shadow that devours everything in the light's path, and her enemies are choking on their own blood before they realize. There is something oddly satisfying and horrifically beautiful about destruction inward out—self-imploding until nothing is left.

Together, they are more than a force to be reckoned with. Though their defenses leave a lot to be desired, their indisputable professor pairs them together often, and allows them to act on their own as potent magical cannons—taking out enemies in one fell swoop, leaving the stronger ones to the physical fighters to slowly chip away at.

They have been friends since the academy days, wherein they bonded over a love of sweets and a necessity to study, and a need to move forward in their lives. They were similar yet different, but found that they liked each other too much to let the differences get in the way. However, things change over time, it just so happens that five years separates them in both time _and_ space.

For Annette, the Barony Dominic in Faerghus, where she contended with her uncle's support towards Edelgard, and her own defiance for the same person. For Lysithea, the County of Ordelia in the Alliance, where she struggled to keep Ordelia territory its own, and not a puppet for the Empire's use. Both battles were ruthless, both conflicts were unending.

They met again in the monastery. They continue to meet every day thereafter, whether it be in the war council room, the dining halls, or even the greenhouse. More often, they convene in the library, and pore over the information still left intact—as if all the books knew they were books, and so didn't bother hiding when the world turned upside down. On the battlefield, things are topside, and Annette and Lysithea find themselves too close to be normal. They are not fighting with each other, but perhaps, _for_ each other.

It is a realization that leaves them speechless for a long time, until they realize they must sort through the uncertainties together.

"Do you think we can make this work?" Lysithea's voice betrays what her body refuses to show: shakiness, hesitance, a paper-thin resolve that can dissipate at any moment. Her hands are steady but clenched into fists, and her eyes are darkened into storms that ruin the path of stone before them. "Won't we get distracted?"

Annette is careful in her movements. She, too, is a storm, but her rage never meets Lysithea at the same time. As if wary of each other, they alternate between calm and endangered—hot and cold. To Lysithea's words, loaded and heavy, Annette offers nothing but light. "I think we can deal with this. And maybe we can work with the distractions, too. Turn them into something productive, something useful." Things they both know to be true; things they have relied on for years.

Lysithea says nothing, but her hands seem to relax.

Annette inhales audibly before adding, "If that's alright with you."

She thumbs over the soft skin on Lysithea's hands. They are both spellcasters, and so they lack calluses, bruises, or marks where a weapon would sit nicely. Instead, their blood stirs and boils with magic remnants, and their minds go light at too much magic, and heavy when there is none at all.

Still, they are matched for paleness. But Annette remembers Lysithea's blood, sweat, and tears come at a price, and she wishes it weren't so.

"It's alright with me," Lysithea concedes. It feels less like a defeat and more like a truce—a silent vow to make things right, and to make it last as long as they can. Their life is fleeting, and that is something which never changes, regardless of the war raging around them. "You deserve better than me, Annette. I want to give you the world."

"Fight for me," Annette insists, pulling Lysithea in closer. _Forget the world, and just focus on me,_ she wants to say. She doesn't care about boundaries right now, or the sudden bravery in her words. Lysithea, at Annette's movements, tenses like a cornered animal, but does not pull away. Annie is no predator. "I would fight for you."

"You would?"

"I _will."_

Lysithea returns the hug, albeit hesitantly. Her hands hover above the small of Annette's back, until they gently reach up, and connect at her shoulders. She buries her face into the crook of her neck, and nods once.

"Then so will I."


End file.
